The Marleux Chateau
by Gwendolyn Rilesse
Summary: Remington and Laura go to France to work on a case. An AU of the first episode.


Disclaimer: I do not own any parts of this series. I am merely borrowing these characters. Don't sue…I've not enough money to pay you.  
  
Author's Note: I believe this would qualify as my first ever fan fic. I am aware of the fact that this doesn't exactly fit their characters or histories but, this began as a school project. I simply changed the names and parts of descriptions to what they are now. All in all, this is a different version of the first episode…hope you like it! ^o^.  
  
◊The Marleux Chateau◊  
  
"The peaceful French countryside," read Private Detective Remington Steele. " holds many secrets." *Oh that's real informative.* he thought. It was unlike his employers to be so vague…but when you take a job from the government you should expect vagueness. He kept reading his assignment folder aloud…  
  
" You are to recover the Emeralsia Diamond from the Marleux chateau, where it has been on exhibition. You will have whatever assistance you need from the French. And make sure it doesn't get stolen, Steele."  
  
He inwardly cringed as he thought, *If it does get stolen, I'll make sure it's not my fault.*  
  
"Darn these planes!" he said as the plane experienced turbulence. "Technology will kill us all one day. But then again, it already is." He said to no one in particular as he opened the newspaper with the headline: Plane Crash Kills 20, No Survivors Found. He was alone on this flight. His employers were nice enough to guarantee him total privacy on all the flights he took while on a case. He put the paper away and looked at the folder again.  
  
*The Emeralsia Diamond, huh?* "Might as well see what I have to protect…" he said as he flipped to the description. " Wow!" he whistled as he read…  
  
"The Emeralsia Diamond is 500 carats. It is 5in by 4in and is set with emeralds along every side. The clear diamond has a green tint and it currently is kept in the Smithsonian Gem Collection. Legend has it that the diamond was found in the heart of a dormant volcano in Hawaii. The P'aarli volcano was used as a hideout for pirates in the earlier parts of U.S. history. The diamond supposedly invoked greed in the pirates who first found it and they killed each other off to get possession of it. It is a priceless gem, the U.S. equivalent of the British Crown Jewels, is worth over a billion dollars in its present form."  
  
*So, the diamond is currently on exhibition, eh?* The Marleux chateau belongs to a very wealthy French car maker, Claude de Fromage, who needed the set to 'drum up' business for his new pet project, the la fillette Révolutionnaire 2000 car, a supercharged, luxurious sports car. *And I have to be there for the big show, joy,* he thought sarcastically. Sharp hated big galas, too hard to find people when you needed them. *At least Laura will be there*  
  
Laura Holt had been his partner since they had been in college together. She had even given him a nickname of Harry since he disliked his birth name so much. She was about 5ft 5in with mid-back length brown hair, which she usually wore down. She had deep hazel eyes and she was rather, no she was, very pretty in her own way. Her beauty was more of an intelligent kind. He had once been a big jerk about the fact that she was a woman doing a man's job but, now thought of her as a really good friend and a wonderful detective. She had been sent with the diamond to France in the first place and he kind of missed having her around. *Oh well* he sighed, *I'll see her soon*  
  
Detective Laura Holt, private investigator on a job for the U.S. government, was in a bad position. She was alone in a room with a Frenchman, and he was drunk. He was also blocking the only way out. *Keep calm Laura, * she told herself, *you've been in worse messes.* though at the moment she couldn't think of one. The guy who she was supposed to be helping protect the jewel, Claude de Fromage, was standing in front of her half dressed with a bottle, his fourth in the last ten minutes, of very intoxicating wine.  
  
"Monsieur de Fromage," she began.  
  
"Please, my dear, call me Claude." He half slurred and half purred at her. She cringed but pressed onward, "Monsieur de Fromage I demand that you let me out right now!"  
  
He smiled and said, "Please, my dearest Laura, call me Claude. And aren't you happy here?"  
  
She sighed, "No, I am not. I demand that you let me go!" At that moment, as he was creeping closer to her, backing her into a corner, a knock came on the door.  
  
"Yes?! What is it? Come in! Please, do come in!" she yelled. De Fromage had a sour look on his face but moved away from the door. Her partner Remington Steele walked into the room. He was looking about the same…but a little tired. He was about 6ft tall and rather good looking. He was of medium build and was dressed in his usual black suit and tie. He has dark brown hair and deep blue eyes. All in all, he was rather handsome and spoke with a noticeable, yet pleasant, Irish accent. He was about 30 years old and didn't look a day older.  
  
"Harry! Uh, Mr. Steele, I mean. I'm so glad to see you!" she said quickly to recover from her examination of him.  
  
"Glad to see you too, Laura…Ms.Holt, rather. Um, is there anything wrong?" he asked with concern.  
  
"No. No. Monsieur de Fromage and I were just um, discussing our security measures for the diamond." She said quickly to hide her embarrassment.  
  
"Were you now? Where is he?" he asked looking around.  
  
"Um, Harry? About Monsieur de Fromage, he's not exactly…himself right now. And he's sitting there, in the armchair." She said and pointed to a slightly faded blue plush chair. *Oh please don't take this the wrong way Harry* she pleaded silently.  
  
He looked around and saw a man without a shirt sitting in the chair she pointed out. *Okay Harry, don't do anything until you know the whole story. You can trust Laura.* he thought. He wanted to punch the guy, but thought that might be a bad idea because the guy was obviously drunk.  
  
"Monsieur de Fromage? I'm Detective Remington Steele here to help you with security for the Emeralsia Diamond. My partner, Ms.Holt, has no doubt been helpful to you already." He said with an air of calmness.  
  
"Steele? Eh, what's that? Why did dearest Laura call you Harry? Oh my poor head! Oh, oh, oh." De Fromage babbled incoherently. *This guy is blended. Oh, dear* he thought in silent prayer.  
  
"Well, Monsieur de Fromage, we'll be going now. We'll see you later. Coming Ms.Holt?" he said carefully.  
  
"Yes, I'm coming Mr. Steele." Laura replied. They left the room and walked towards the gardens of the chateau.  
  
The Marleux chateau is a three story, square-like house with a tower at each corner. The chateau is made entirely of French marble found in a nearby quarry that is now a lake. It is in the style of Louis XV, the French monarch around the time of the French Revolution, thus the chateau is highly ornamental. The gardens are large and cover an area of 32 acres encasing the chateau on all sides.  
  
"Laura," he began. "I'm not going to ask what happened back there…as long as you tell me that you're okay." *And if you're not, I'm going back there and making that simpering French guy wish he was never born.* he thought to himself.  
  
"Harry, I'm okay. A bit shaken up, but okay. And Harry? He was drunk and he's French. Enough said?" she answered. *Please understand Harry.* She pleaded again silently.  
  
He said, sounding very relieved, "Yeah, I understand, but…if he tries that again, tell me okay?"  
  
"Okay, will do." She said with a smile. "Harry? You know the big gala is tonight, don't you? We need to be there."  
  
He sighed, "Yeah, I know. You sure you can't handle it Laura?"  
  
"I'm positive. Well, I could handle it, but I would have to be there, alone with Monsieur de Fromage. Or am I getting the wrong signals about your feelings towards him?" she asked with a small smile.  
  
"No, you're not. Fine I'll go. Might as well get ready, shall we mademoiselle?" he said in a resigned voice but offered her his arm to lead her back inside.  
  
A few hours later…  
  
Laura Holt walked down the stairs to the main ballroom in the chateau. She was wearing a floor length black dress with silver woven through it and silver on the neckline and hem. Her hair was in a French braid with a silver clasp. *I wonder where Harry is.* she thought as she rounded a corner.  
  
"Hello again Mademoiselle Holt. You are looking lovely this evening," the voice of Monsieur de Fromage purred.  
  
*Oh just great. Just what I need right now* she thought.  
  
"Laura?" Harry asked as he came up behind her and offered her his arm.  
  
*The perfect gentleman, as usual*she thought and smiled to herself. "Harry! So glad you could finally join me." She said with obvious relief.  
  
De Fromage looked a little sour as he said, "Monsieur Steele, I wonder if I might borrow your lovely partner, Mademoiselle Holt, for the evening?"  
  
*No! Please Harry!* She thought at him with a stricken face. He seemed to get the message as he said,  
  
"I'm sorry Monsieur de Fromage, but if you expect us to protect the jewel properly we'll need to stay together and away from the spotlight… your car sir." De Fromage seemed to fall for it as he noticeably brightened.  
  
"Yes. My car. Speaking of which, if you will both excuse moi, I must go make a speech." He said as he took his leave.  
  
"Whew! I thought he would never go," Laura said as she slumped against Harry.  
  
He quickly caught her elbows and said, "Come on Laura, don't collapse on me."  
  
"I'm sorry Harry. Thanks a lot."  
  
"No problem. Well, let's get this over with." He said and sighed as they walked in.  
  
"We should make the best of this Harry. Don't you think?" she asked as they entered the brightly lit room.  
  
"Okay, would you like to dance mademoiselle?" he said with a smile.  
  
"I would love to, monsieur." She replied, also smiling.  
  
A few hours later…  
  
Harry walked through the remains of the showing off the la fillette Révolutionnaire 2000, trying to find its creator. *Gosh, people really drank a lot of that punch. * He thought as he surveyed the remains of tables and chairs. He was very glad he only had a little bit of the obviously spiked punch.  
  
"Monsieur de Fromage? Are you in here?" he called as he rounded the car on its display platform. "There you are! Sir? Are you okay?' he asked when he found him, with a hint of concern.  
  
"Oh, Monsieur Steele, its you." De Fromage said wearily. "They have drinken my liqueur…but they have not bought my car!" he said while both hiccupping and sobbing.  
  
*Oh great, where's Laura when you need her?* he thought with a sigh. Might as well get this over with. "Monsieur de Fromage," he began. "I can understand how you feel." *At least it sounded sincere but, I really do feel bad for him.* he thought sighing again.  
  
"Thank you monsieur. Well, I shall be going now…back to my sorrow… adieu good sir." He picked up his bottle and shuffled out still muttering to himself.  
  
"Beep! Beep! BEEP!! BEEP!!!!!!!!" Alarms suddenly kicked in.  
  
"Oh, shoot! Harry! Someone's going after the diamond!" Laura yelled as she started to walk in then ran as she heard the klaxons.  
  
"You're right! Come on!" he yelled back as they ran down to the chateau's safe, the holding place for the Emeralsia. They slowed as they reached the safe door.  
  
"Oh, damn! It's not here Harry. Hey, where's Monsieur de Fromage?" Laura asked as she stepped into the safe.  
  
"I don't know. He left right before the alarm went off…Laura, you don't think?…" he asked.  
  
"He might have, Harry, we can't rule him out. He did have a motive…let's split up and look for him. I'll take the house, you take the grounds." She replied wearily.  
  
"Alright, see you in a bit then…" he replied.  
  
A few more hours later…  
  
"Did you find him Harry?" Laura asked as she rose from the desk she was working at.  
  
"No. Did you?" he asked tiredly as he slumped into a chair.  
  
"No. And he hasn't left the country yet either. We should go to the airport in the morning." She said.  
  
"Why would he leave the country?" he asked.  
  
"As part of my search I went into his rooms to look for him and all of his things were gone. I think he was planning this all along." She said in a resigned voice.  
  
"Just in case the car flopped, eh? He probably was. We'll go in the morning then….'Night Laura." He said as he prepared to leave.  
  
"'Night Harry."  
  
The next morning…  
  
"There he is Laura! Officer! Stop that man!" Harry yelled as they ran into the airport and pointed to a fleeing, rather disheveled looking man. As soon as he yelled, another man, more business like in appearance, took off too.  
  
"Harry? Who's that guy?" Laura asked as they ran after the fleeing forms.  
  
"I don't know, his partner maybe?" Harry yelled to her as they came up behind the two.  
  
"Get him Harry!" she yelled as she tackled the man closest to her…  
  
"So our 'de Fromage' was just an innocent drunk?" Harry asked Laura as they boarded their plane to return home.  
  
"Yeah, the real de Fromage hired him to keep everyone busy. I guess he figured he was better off with the gem than a car that wasn't guaranteed to be a hit." She said rather sadly.  
  
"Well we showed him, didn't we partner?" he said with a smile as the plane took off and gained altitude.  
  
"Yep, we sure did. So did you like the trip Harry?" she asked.  
  
"Well, on the whole it was worthwhile. Oh, no." he replied.  
  
"What is it Harry?" she asked with concern.  
  
"Turbulence. I hate turbulence." He said as, low and behold, the plane experienced turbulence.  
  
The whole way home was filled with laughter from Laura and finally from Harry.  
  
~Finis~  
  
Author's End Note: Like it? Hate it? Don't know? Be a dear and review. 


End file.
